The Irish Council Against Blood Sports is renewing its call on Irish charities to show compassion for Irish wildlife and reject cynical fundraisers organised by hunting groups.

ICABS is well aware of the cynicism of the foxhunting fraternity in their public relations exercise of raising funds for charities in order to give themselves and their cruel activities a veneer of respectability and an acceptance in their local communities.

Charity fundraisers by hunts are on the increase and they are playing a role in keeping this blood sport alive.

These events usually take the form of a cross country chase during which it is emphasised that no animal gets killed.

However, these hunt rides are inextricably linked to the terrorisation and tearing apart of foxes.

Hunts which gain permission to cross land during a cross country charity ride effectively have their foot in the door and are more likely to retain that permission for subsequent hunt outings.

Furthermore, we believe that hunt fundraisers for charity are used as an opportunity to deceitfully "illustrate" false claims that foxes are rarely killed during a hunt. Those who take part in the fundraising ride for charity are given a distorted view of what the hunt is about.

Another function of these fundraising events is to secure positive publicity in the regional press.

As it is an ideal opportunity to draw attention away from their normal blood sport activities, the hunt never fail to alert the media. As a result they invariably get a favourable write-up - normally, of course, without a mention of the thousands of foxes which hunts cruelly slaughter every year.

ICABS fully understands how difficult it is for Irish charities to raise funds for their worthwhile work on behalf of humanity but, we appeal to them to take a principled stand against animal cruelty.